Freethinker's corner

The Accommodators, also known as the enablers.

As there is no evidence for the existence of any god whatsoever, for religion to exist, blind faith is required. Blind faith is required also for the acceptance of many of the outrageous claims within the religion. Outside of religion such irrational concepts are not believed. For example, if I were to proclaim I could walk on water, though there might be some nut cases who would believe it, most would dismiss it. Yet, within the ranks of the believer, there are people who accept that someone did walk on water despite the fact that the surface tension of water is unable to support more than a bug’s weight.

Many non-believers, in a vain hope of defusing the dangers of religion, wish to adopt a stance of live and let live, attempting to accommodate religion and get believers on board with some of the issues of concern with them. This is encouraging delusional behavior. Whereas everyone has the right to believe whatever of their choosing, a collusion between believers and non-believers would be possible only on a few scant issues, and not for some believers, they being fundamentalists, who are intolerant of all other belief and non-belief systems.

Why should behavior which is delusional and dangerous be encouraged? Constitutionally, much delusional belief and behavior, though not encouraged, is tolerated. Nonetheless, toleration should not be extended to accommodation. Enabling a delusion is immoral, and as detrimental to society as enabling a drunk, or drug addict.

   

 

 

There are numerous stories bemoaning atrocities committed against Christians. They outline the different types of atrocities, they tell of the nature of who commits the atrocities. What they never seem to do is reveal the motives, the reasons for the atrocities. Most often it is a backlash against the actions of the Christian population, or persons. Christians are commanded to spread the word to all in the world. Proselytize, in other words. All other cultures and belief systems are considered by the Christian inferior, and indeed roads to destruction. Well meaning missionaries have over the centuries have thus embarked on distant journeys in an effort to “save” all these ignorant souls.

Some of the history of their accomplishments can be found here and here.

Rwanda Massacres

In 1994 in the small African country of Rwanda in just a few months several hundred thousand civilians were butchered, apparently a conflict of the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups.
For quite some time there were only  rumors about Catholic clergy actively involved in the 1994 Rwanda massacres. Odd denials of involvement were printed in Catholic church journals, before even anybody had openly accused members of the church.
Then, 10/10/96, in the newscast of S2 Aktuell, Germany – a station not at all critical to Christianity – the following was stated
"Anglican as well as Catholic priests and nuns are suspect of having actively participated in murders. Especially the conduct of a certain Catholic priest has been occupying the public mind in Rwanda’s capital Kigali for months. He was minister of the church of the Holy Family and allegedly murdered Tutsis in the most brutal manner. He is
reported to have accompanied marauding Hutu militia with a gun in his cowl. In fact there has been a bloody slaughter of Tutsis seeking shelter in his parish. Even two years after the massacres many Catholics refuse to set foot on the threshold of their church, because to them the participation of a certain part of the clergy in the slaughter is well established. There is almost no church in Rwanda that has not seen refugees – women, children, old – being brutally butchered facing the crucifix.
According to eyewitnesses clergymen gave away hiding Tutsis and turned them over to the machetes of the Hutu militia.

Murders and Attempted Murders and Assaults at Christian Hands

In the U.S., violence directed toward abortion providers has killed 7 people, including 3 doctors, 2 clinic employees, a security guard, and a clinic escort.[5]
* March 10, 1993: Dr. David Gunn of Pensacola, Florida was fatally shot during a protest. He had been the subject of wanted-style posters distributed by Operation Rescue in the summer of the year before. Michael F. Griffin was found guilty of Dr. Gunn’s murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
* June 29, 1994: Dr. John Britton and James Barrett, a clinic escort, were both shot to death outside of another facility in Pensacola. Rev. Paul Jennings Hill was charged with the killings, received a death sentence, and was executed September 3, 2003.
* December 30, 1994: Two receptionists, Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols, were killed in two clinic attacks in Brookline, Massachusetts. John Salvi, who prior to his arrest was distributing pamphlets from Human Life International,[6] was arrested and confessed to the killings. He committed suicide in prison and guards found his body under his bed with a plastic garbage bag tied around his head. Salvi had also confessed to a non-lethal attack in Norfolk, Virginia days before the Brookline killings.
* January 29, 1998: Robert Sanderson, an off-duty police officer who worked as a security guard at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, was killed when his workplace was bombed. Eric Robert Rudolph, who was also responsible for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing, was charged with the crime and received two life sentences as a result.
* October 23, 1998: Dr. Barnett Slepian was shot to death at his home in Amherst, New York. His was the last in a series of similar shootings against providers in Canada and northern New York state which were all likely committed by James Kopp. Kopp was convicted of Dr. Slepian’s murder after finally being apprehended in France in 2001.

According to statistics gathered by the National Abortion Federation (NAF), an organization of abortion providers, since 1977 in the United States and Canada, there have been 17 attempted murders, 383 death threats, 153 incidents of assault or battery, and 3 kidnappings committed against abortion providers.[8] The attempted murders were:[9][10][5]
* August 19, 1993: Dr. George Tiller was shot outside of an abortion facility in Wichita, Kansas. Shelley Shannon was charged with the crime and received an 11-year prison sentence.
* June 29, 1994: June Barret was shot in the same attack which claimed the lives of James Barrett, her husband, and Dr. John Britton.
* December 30, 1994: Five individuals were wounded in the same-day shootings which killed Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols.
* December 18, 1996: Dr. Calvin Jackson of New Orleans, Louisiana was stabbed 15 times, losing 4 pints of blood. Donald Cooper was charged with second-degree attempted murder and sentenced to 20 years.[11]
* October 28, 1997: A physician whose name has not been revealed was shot in his home in Rochester, New York.
* January 29, 1998: Emily Lyons, a nurse, was severely injured in the bombing which also killed Robert Sanderson.
* September 11, 2006 David McMenemy attempted a suicide bombing of a women’s clinic in Davenport, Iowa after scouting targets throughout the Midwest. It was later revealed that the targeted clinic did not perform or make referrals for abortions.

Arson, bombing, and property crimes
According to NAF, since 1977 in the United States and Canada, property crimes committed against abortion providers have included 41 bombings, 173 arsons, 91 attempted bombings or arsons, 619 bomb threats, 1630 incidents of trespassing, 1264 incidents of vandalism, and 100 attacks with butyric acid ("stink bombs").[8] The first clinic arson occurred in Oregon in March 1976 and the first bombing occurred in February 1978 in Ohio.[13] More recent incidents have included:[5]
* October 1999: Martin Uphoff set fire to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, causing US$100 worth of damage. He was later sentenced to 60 months in prison.
* May 28, 2000: An arson at a clinic in Concord, New Hampshire on resulted in damage estimated at US$20,000.
* October 1, 2000: A Catholic priest drove his car into the Northern Illinois Health Clinic after learning that the FDA had approved the drug RU-486. He pulled out an ax before being shot at by a security guard.
* June 11, 2001: A bombing at a clinic in Tacoma, Washington on destroyed a wall, resulting in US$6000 in damages
* July 4, 2005: A clinic Palm Beach, Florida was the target of an arson.
* December 12, 2005: Patricia Hughes and Jeremy Dunahoe threw a Molotov cocktail at a clinic in Shreveport, Louisiana. The device missed the building and no damage was caused. In August 2006, Hughes was sentenced to six years in prison, and Dunahoe to one year.
* September 13, 2006 David McMenemy of Rochester Hills, Michigan crashed his car into the Edgerton Women’s Care Center in Davenport, Iowa. He then doused the lobby in gasoline and then started a fire. McMenemy committed these acts in the belief that the center was performing abortions, however Edgerton is not an abortion clinc.[14]
* April 25, 2007: A package left at a women’s health clinic in Austin, Texas contained an explosive device capable of inflicting serious injury or death. A bomb squad detonated the device.[15]
* May 9, 2007: An unidentified person deliberately set fire to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Virginia Beach, Virginia.[16]
* December 6, 2007: Two unidentified persons set fire to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

‘The Christian God is cruel, vindictive, capricious and unjust.’ – President Thomas Jefferson

‘Missionaries are perfect nuisances and leave every place worse than they found it’.
– Charles Dickens.

Technorati Tags: Christian Atrocities,religion,atheism,Uganda,Rwanda,India

Most religious believers hold to a concept of a god that has existed for eternity, without a thought as to what created that god, or what created that which created god, ad infinitum. Why cannot those same believers conceive of an eternally existing Universe instead.

The first law of Thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can change into different forms. This implies that what we have in the Universe has always been here, and always will be, in some form or another: an eternal Universe,  existing in one form or another, be it matter, or energy. Something cannot be created out of nothing.

To accept the results of Science and reason the results must be accepted also. Whereas the first law implies that the Universe is eternal, the second law implies that such immortality is useless, as the universe approaches ever increasing entropy. Entropy is the averaging out of energy over the vastness of the Universe. Eventually the Universe will have uniform energy and will eventually assume a cold and dark state. Presently, mankind benefits from “pockets” of low entropy, wherein energy is available for all the processes necessary for life and activity.

Ever-increasing entropy occurs in closed systems. Overall, the Universe is a closed system. The Earth however, represents an open system, fed by a star which represents one of the “pockets” of energy presently experiencing low entropy. As the sun, which is a closed system, races to assume a state of increased entropy, it will no longer be able to provide the energy Earth requires to support life. The Earth will then assume an increased entropy state as well, and life will cease to exist.

If mankind is still around in the very distant future, billions of years from now, perhaps prolonged survival may involve “mining” the pockets of low entropy which may still exist. This will of course not be possible if we remain chained solely to this world. I advocate increased funding for space exploration, including searching for more habitable worlds. Otherwise, mankind will simply become one more casualty in the long list of extinctions. Presently all it would take is one collision with some big bag of rocks hurtling through space to end our existence.

(Much of what is contained in this blog was presented originally in Isaac Asimov’s book “A Choice of Catastrophes”)

 

Why do individuals who believe the nonsense of religion resist information which contradicts their beliefs, perhaps even destroys the very basis of their beliefs?

A possible explanation is the euphoria that is produced by belief. It is my contention that the brain produces the “happy” endorphin in response to religious belief. This state can be said to be addictive as it is a desirable state wherein one is happy.

How else can it be explained why otherwise rational adults believe the bizarre unbelievable information inherent in religion? It is addictive! A sort of “high” is produced by holding on to a perspective such as that produced by religious belief.

Karl Marx said:

Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions.
Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right

An opium of the people? This would explain much as to why despite over-whelming information which contradicts their belief systems people continue to resist, continue to accept the reasoning of ancient ignorant peoples as their life stance. Even when someone is able to use a measure of reason to abandon some of those concepts of religion that they once held, frequently that individual will create new ways to believe, to reach that “high” to which they are addicted. In fact, they seem to become desperate to create such ways.  Numerous variations of the original belief system arise which allows the individual to retain the ability to cause the brain to release the “ happy” hormone. In this way, despite the new variations, religion is self-propagating. People do not want to lose the euphoria state, as they prefer the illusion of happiness created by the religious experience, and will resist tooth and nail to cling to it. This is not unlike the phrenetic behavior of the drug addict, anxious to obtain his/her next fix. It would also help explain some of the behavior associated with the resistance displayed by those adherents to religion who have committed heinous acts to preserve their beliefs in the face of those who offer  contradiction to them. From witch burnings to crusades, to abortion clinic blasts, anyone that offers a contradiction which resists belief becomes a target. It is truly a wonder that there isn’t even more violence associated with belief, and is probably because in many cases reason may restraint an individual. The consequences  of such behavior may be realized which produces resistance to actually manifesting the desire to commit violence in an effort to protect the faith.

Many times violence may be avoided, and instead the believer will create images of those who offer contradictions which are dark and evil. Atheists have been so vilified by believers over many centuries. Those of other “unacceptable” or “false” beliefs have also been so tainted. No matter what reason or logic these groups of undesirables may offer as to their non-belief it is dismissed as coming from an evil source. Every manner of illogic and non-reason will be used to maintain the delusion.  All… so the addiction may continue.

It has been found that the brain will produce the “happy” hormone if only an individual will smile. Alternatively the endorphins produced by belief will also cause a person to smile. This could explain why people experiencing the delusion seem so happy.  Is it possible that all this sordid business of religion could have been avoided with a smile?

A note to the believer:

For those who believe, unless you want your invisible means of support to be shaken, perhaps toppled, I would ask that you stop reading at this point. Still here? That is your choice.

Christianity’s history is rife with forgery and fraud. The Christian tale has always been difficult to swallow yet countless people have been able to overlook the rational mind and willingly believe it, though they may equally as easily dismiss the nearly identical stories of other cultures. Even saint Augustine admitted “I should not believe in the truth of the Gospels unless the authority of the Catholic Church forced me to do so.” Others, like early church father Terullian expressed his incredulity in his famous statement: “I believe, because it is unbelievable”.

Joseph Wheless who wrote “Forgeries in Christianity”, said “The gospels are all priestly forgeries over a century after their pretended dates.” None of the gospels were written by the claimed authors and no mention of any New Testament text can be found in writings prior to the 2nd century C.E. . Since all of these gospels have been found spurious forgeries, and since that is where  we find the story of Jesus Christ, we must also be doubtful of the story as well. (souce: “The Christ Conspiracy” by Acharya S. )

The four Gospels were written in Greek, and no translation into other languages was made of them until the 3rd Century.

Forgeries in the early church were rampant and during this period because of the common frauds occurring the phrase “Pious Fraud” was originated to describe it.

Mangasarian in “The Truth about Jesus”, states: The church historian, Mosheim, writes that, “The Christian Fathers deemed it a pious act to employ deception and fraud” “The greatest and the most pious teachers were nearly all of them infected with this leprosy.” He asks: “Will not some believer tell us why forgery and fraud were necessary to prove the historicity of Jesus?”

The Gospel of The Lord.  The “Gospel of the Lord” written by Marcion decades before the canonical gospels, contains the basic gospel story without the later changes that were made in the canonical gospels. In it, Jesus was not a Jewish man, there was no childhood history, and Jesus was not born but came down at Capernaum. He suddenly appeared in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.

The Gospel of Luke: 170 C.E.

The canonical gospel of Luke was created from the “Gospel of the Lord” plus many other works, over 30, around 170 C.E. to 180 C.E. . The writer of Luke inserted material and removed material in an effort to make a history for the story and to change the main character into a Jewish man. A genealogy and a childhood were both created in Luke. For example: to establish his Jewish heritage…

In Marcion’s work a passage reads:

Saying, the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be put to death, and after three days rise again

In the Luke version reads:

Saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things , and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”

Passage after passage was added in the course of manufacturing the history. Words previously attributed to the “Almighty Lord” were assigned to Jesus.

The Gospel of Mark: 175 C.E.

Like Marcion Mark has no history. Unlike Marcion the story begins with John the Baptist, added to include the Nazarenes/Mandaeans.

The style of language used indicates that Mark was written probably in Rome, by a Roman convert to Christianity whose first language was Latin, not Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic. The work Mark reveals an ignorance of geography in Palestine which reveals that the author was not a Palestinian Jew.

The Gospel of John: 178 C.E.

The tone of this gospel is anti-Jewish, revealing it’s writer as a non-Jew. This is reinforced by the authors lack of knowledge about the geography of the Palestine area. The author speaks of areas like Aenon, Bethany, or the city of Samaria, which were unknown to other writers. The author also says that Bethsaida was in Galilee, and such a city never existed there. St. John was born in Bethsaida, and would have known it was on the other side of the sea of Tiberias instead of where it was placed.

John is the only gospel that includes the Egyptian myth of the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

It is said that the Gospel of John was created in an effort to refute the Gnostics or usurp their authority and bring them into the Christian “fold”.

The Gospel of Matthew: 180 C.E.

The Gospel of Matthew was originally written in Greek. In Matthew 16:17-19 the dominance of the Roman Church was declared in which Jesus states that Peter is the rock upon which the church is to be built, and that Peter is the keeper of the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

 

It is clear that the four canonical books were forged at a late date, long after the purported authors were gone. In these forgeries we have the only history of the Jesus of Nazareth. Despite the contradictions between them, and knowing that these are of late forged origin, believers continue to claim that they were nevertheless inspired by God and are infallible.

Non-Bible references.

There are no non-biblical references to a historical Jesus by any known historian during and after Jesus supposed appearance.

Flavius Josephus

With the exception of one forged passage  made by Bishop Eusebius in the 4th century, Flavius  makes no mention of his miracle working fellow countryman.

Other forgeries were made in the works of Pliny 62-113 C.E. and Tacitus 55-120 C.E.,

Not one Pagan source can be cited for reference of the fabulous story rendered in the Gospels. The very existence of Jesus at the time seemed unknown.

Even the Jewish references cited by some do not fit the story of Jesus, or the timeline presented in the Gospels.

(Source for the majority of this blog is “The Christ Conspiracy” by Acharya S.)

Religion depends on divisiveness. This is because it requires an enemy. It is irrelevant if this is an earthbound enemy or one from some other realm of existence. Some people are considered special, others evil, and often, those considered evil must, as a duty of the specially chosen lot, be destroyed. (1)

Religion wears a facade of the divine. It is sectarian, sexist, and usually racist as well, portraying their god as of a certain race.

Extreme atrocities have been committed in the name of God and religion to an extent that it is useless to try to list them. Crusades and massacres have annihilated multitudes.

To defend religion many believers point to supposed secular idiologies such as communism and Nazism as murderers and oppressors. Few people know that the originators of communism were Jewish, and that the overtly violent movement leaders usually cited (hitler, mussolini, franco)  were Roman Catholic.  Even Stalin was an orthodox Christian. In no way were these movements atheistic in any way. Hitler was supported by the Christian Church, which even proclaimed him an instrument of divine authority. (1)

Christianity was from the beginning intolerant and violent. This is the way the religion was meant to be according to Jesus:

Mt 10:34 … Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; For I have come to set man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s foes will be those of his own household.

He continued to state: nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Where ever Christianity has spread this has been the case; division and violence. Far from being the harbinger of peace, as presented by his followers, Jesus has been, instead,  the harbinger of war, bloodshed, and human misery.

 

 

Why Non-belief?

-Before the “invention” of Jesus, many myths existed which portrayed individuals with nearly identical stories. When all the elements of the preceding myths are removed from Jesus’ story, there remains nothing and no one. Jesus, it turns out, was merely a composite of about twenty previous persons, put together to form one, and as such, was nobody. (2)

-There are multitudes of gods in mankind’s history. Each culture believing their god is the only god. All of these cultures cannot be correct, and we must assume, that none of them are correct.

Obviously there are many comparisons we can make with contemporary religions: Jews are no less devout than Christians; Christians are no less devout than Muslims; and adherents of these Middle Eastern religions are no more or less devout than adherents of Asian religions, such as Hindus and Buddhists. They are all just as convinced of their religions as the others. It’s common to hear similar arguments from them all for the "truth" and "validity" of their religions. excerpt from:

(http://atheism.about.com/od/argumentsagainstgod/a/TooMany.htm)

 

(1)Introduction: “The Christ Conspiracy” by Acharya S.

(2) “The Christ Conspiracy”, “The Quest for Jesus Christ” by Acharya S.

The Winter Solstice celebrations have occurred for thousands of years, long before it was connected to many religious holy days prevalent today. Pagan religious observances associated Solstice with life changes that were linked to the rest of the Universe and was thought to determine the fates of people.

Winter Solstice is the day of the year when less daylight is available than any other day.

The Origin of Solstice:

Earth tilts at a little over 23 degrees, with the axis continuously focused toward the area of the North Star. The earth rotates around the sun in a little over the 365 days that we have labeled a “year”.

Winter was a time of extreme hardship for the people of ancient times. Stored food and the occasional trapped animal was all they had to sustain them. People were fearful  that the sun was going to disappear when it seemed the sun was sinking lower in the sky each day. They were afraid that a permanent darkness with frigid temperatures were going to become prevalent. When the sun began rising once again in the sky they found reason to celebrate. They were able to notice a significant rise directly after the Solstice celestial event and timed their celebrations around the 25th of December.

In recent times there has been an increase in solstice observances by atheists and freethinkers. A sort of reclamation of historic observances without the religious connection.  Many now use the solstice celebration as an alternative to religious and commercialized holidays.  An exchange of gifts and  cards, and participation in family socialization are enjoyed by many.  

 

There are people who are wearing T-shirts with the message:

PRAY FOR OBAMA

PSALM 109:8

Praying for Obama seems benign enough until you look up the bible verse. It reads:

May his days be few;
       may another take his place of leadership.

and what follows is:

Palm 109:9 :

May his children be fatherless
       and his wife a widow.

I did not vote for Obama, I do not support many of the things he has done, but I certainly do not wish him harm, as these people obviously do. Is this a message that could come from a group of people serving a “loving and caring god?”

http://airamerica.com/theronreaganshow/blog/11-20-2009/listen-t-shirt-wants-kill-barack-obama/

Many well educated and intelligent individuals claim that science and religion are not only compatible but complementary.

Religion, belief, was a conception initiated by primitive man in an effort to explain those things in the natural world which they did not understand. Also, it can be said, that such belief was also prompted by a fear and lack of understanding about death.

I will not at this time explore the reality that many religions and beliefs have been distorted by individuals seeking to control their populations.

Mankind’s large brain allowed humans to observe cause and effect. Some things once attributed to the workings of some supernatural power have been explained and found to be the workings of natural understandable forces. In fact, most things that once were attributed to godly actions, like lightning, thunder, earthquakes, disease, celestial objects, and more have been found not the work of gods, but natural things, not to be feared.

The efficacy of prayer has been analyzed, and found wanting. Unless action is taken, a prayer will produce no more result than if no prayer is made at all. It can be said that an individual in distress receives comfort from such prayers, but equally, any encouragement might have been as effective.

Despite that science has eradicated many of the avenues that religion held sway upon, many still cling to the dream that one day they will meet up with lost love ones in a hereafter. If this gives them comfort, despite the fact that there is no evidence of a soul, or any hereafter, I encourage them to hold this belief if that’s what they need to get through the day.

All that I ask is that no one condemn another for not believing so. No proclamation of a doom worse than death is needed, death alone is a curse we all bear, and sufficient to end all debate.

Live your life to the fullest, enjoy the only life you have, or at least, can conclusively prove, you have.

 

Despite the many UFO sightings that have been reported, despite the many encounters and abductions which have been alleged, there is no proof of any extraterrestrial visitations to Earth. Suppose such visits have taken place? An alien race of pure reason, highly technologically advanced could have made a swing by our little planet without our knowledge. Perhaps they analyzed our civilization from near Earth orbit.

What follows is an imaginary rendition of how such an event might take place.

“Success, commander, the planet below harbors numerous life-forms. There is vegetation and animal forms across the extent of this world.”

“ Is there a dominant life-form present, is there civilization or primitive life only?”

“Industrialization has occurred. There is much synthetic material and construction. The dominant life-form present, though primitive in physical construct, possesses a large capacity brain.”

“Begin an analysis for possible contact protocols. Use their many broadcasts to determine if they merit consideration for admittance to the core of allied planets.”

Over the ensuing weeks an analysis is made of the culture of this new world. Some small excursions to the surface are made to observe first hand the behavior of these creatures. In some cases the sightings of the visiting ships generates reports among this new species of unidentified objects in the sky.

Eventually the scientist investigating the planet stands before his commander with the full report.

“Have you and your associates concluded your investigation?

“Yes. As to the dominant life, form it calls itself human. It seems descended from some prior form much more primitive, analysis confirms this, yet the majority of the population denies it. The majority are members of what are called religions and despite contrary evidence maintain that they were created in an instant by some all-powerful entity.”

“Have you made investigations for the presence of such an entity”

“Of course, security demanded it. Such a being would be a threat to all. There has been no evidence found of such a being.”

“Then why do they insist on maintaining such a facade?”

“From everything we can find it seems that much earlier, this being, having no way of determining the nature of their world, no way of explaining certain phenomena, and possessing great fear of the unknown, including their eventual termination, have explained everything to their satisfaction by simple fabrication.”

“They have the capacity for imagination?”

“Yes. This capacity is necessary for the advancement of civilization, yet in this case is instead being used to support a primitive belief system.”

“Belief?”

“Yes. Belief is how they state it. It is a view or views held without actual information to support it.”

“What are some of these ‘beliefs’?”

“Without any evidence they believe that at an earlier time a world wide flood wiped out all inhabitants except a few, along with two each of compatible animal species. These few individuals along with the animals managed to survive in a large wooden craft.”

“How could such a civilization build a ship big enough, environmentally shielded enough to do such a thing?"

“There is no evidence that this event took place. In fact, many studies totally contradict such a viewpoint.”

“There is even more… The people belonging to this majority actually believe that the earth was created in six revolutions of their planet.”

“Around their star?”

“No. Their planet as you note turns on it’s axis, they mean to say, six of their turns.”

“Preposterous. All of them believe this? Can they be negotiated with?”

“No. Of this majority only the ones called fundamentalists, or literalists believe this. They will not negotiate and maintain that their beliefs are unchanging, and their all-powerful being inflexible.”

“Still, from your report I see, quite a substantial portion of the population share this view.”

“To continue, this belief system held by the majority has built in hatred and suspicion of anyone who is different or does not believe likewise. They state their beliefs are of love, but consistently show the opposite behavior towards all other belief systems.”

“These people are capable of the emotion of love, yet hate?”

“Their belief system requires it.”

“Astounding!”

“The past behavior of this belief system in question is deplorable. Filled with aggression and violence toward any other group which differs in belief or appearance.”

“Examples?”

“They had what were called Crusades in the past, wherein they sought to subdue many other cultures. Also, more recently they had what were called ‘witch burnings’ that required them to burn those deemed possessed by evil spirits or possessing powers which they did not. No evidence has been found that anything they call evil spirits exist, or existed at the time.”

“Most disturbing.”

“Even now quite a number of individuals still hold to the belief that these evil spirits exist and can inhabit various other humans and animals, and are causing mischief generally. Only the laws of each individual group prevents them from rendering retribution as in the past.”

“Very disappointing.”

“Yes, in conclusion, my associates and I recommend that surveillance be continued so as to prevent these beings from leaving this area of the galaxy.”

“You are recommending no contact then?”

“Absolutely. These people are extremely primitive and dangerous.”

“I will submit the report, no doubt your recommendations will be followed.”

The End.

The question is; Will mankind allow the ranting of a few to ruin the possible opportunity of a millennia should it occur? Or will the people of reason speak up, and squelch the ignorance from the past which plagues us even now.